I met these word-endingly incredible earrings at Fred Leighton, of course. Who else could offer such a treasure? The diamonds are 20 carats EACH and are accentuated by one row each of delicate, dancing diamond briolettes.

It’s hard for anything to follow THOSE babies, but this sapphire and diamond stunner from Omi Prive is still pretty hard to resist.

It’s such a glorious blend of classic (the giant sapphire) and unexpected (that sexy, unexpected halo and those wicked sapphire studded corner prongs. This is the kind of subtle, mind-blowing exquisiteness that I’ve learned to expect from Omi…alongside world class stones, of course.

Props also to Omi for giving me the best scotch I had in Vegas…I’m not going to forget that glass of Hibiki 17 year anytime soon.

Glorious opal rings by Wwake! The delicate, dainty aesthetic is the classic Wwake look, while the large-but-minimalist opal ring is one of their newest pieces. I love both, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the Couture show chatting with Wwake designer Wing Yau, who I had a lovely unplanned lunch with.

Wwake is a brand that is special to me because I got to know them as a consumer first and a blogger second. The lovely Mr. DitL bought me a pair of their earrings a few years ago for my birthday and they immediately became one of my most frequently worn pieces.

They’re so pretty and versatile, especially for multi-stud earring looks. If you ever watch my jewels of the day Instastories, you’ve seen them.

These Suzanne Kalan diamond chokers are almost unbelievably luxe. They’re each one of a kind and all diamonds: white diamonds and colored diamonds. One’s pure yellow, the rest are a mix of yellow and colors.

These take my breath away utterly. It’s a stack of four separate pieces, by the way, not a massive quadruple choker. But they’re each extremely impressive individually: if you know much about jewelry, you know how opulent it is to have this many colored diamonds together on one piece.

I have to confess: I personally do not wear chokers. I can’t stand the feeling of something that high on my neck – it makes me feel like I’m being actually choked. I don’t wear turtlenecks either. You’ll have to wear all the pretty chokers for me!

Las Vegas jewelry week, as you know if you’ve been with me for a while, is the glorious, glittering summer jewelry trade show bonanza when the biggest names in the industry all come to Sin City to do business and move jewels. Designers offering their latest wares, stores refreshing their stocks…and me in the middle of it, running around and seeing everything there is to see. It’s closed to the public, but it’s my honor to attend as press to share it with you.

I took about 4,000 photos and videos during Las Vegas jewelry week, so there’s more to come – but I wanted to take a minute to show you a few of the pieces that rocked my world.

I thought I’d start things out strong!!

This glorious buffet of beauty is Suzanne Kalan’s 14K gold collection, Kalan 14. If you love Suzanne Kalan’s designs but you want a bit more flexibility in price point, the 14K line is the perfect place to look. They start under $500 and they’re utterly gorgeous.

And speaking of utterly gorgeous…this pear-cut droplet of perfection is probably the most beautiful diamond I’ve ever touched in my life. It’s antique, from around the turn of the century.

Rebecca at Fred Leighton was kind enough to let me sit on the couch in their salon for some time so that I could gently stroke this diamond like a child besotted with a hamster. I’d still be doing it now, a month later, if Las Vegas jewelry week hadn’t ended.

That lovely diamond chain isn’t original to the piece, but it’s looks pretty spectacular paired with that pear, don’t you think?

These beauties are by Nikos Koulis, who is one of my very favorite high end contemporary jewelry designers. I love Las Vegas jewelry week because it brings so many big names to one place!

Just look at these earrings: they’re utterly perfect. Everything love about Art Deco jewelry pared down and transformed through an edgy modern perspective. The dramatic colors, the perfect hint of movement…I could stare at these all day.

I didn’t have much time to spend at the Las Vegas Jewelry & Watch Show this year, but I still made time to stop by!!

I may have spent most of that time frolicking around in a tiara and catching up with friends who live far away…but I’m pretty satisfied with that use of time.

The tiara is from Ishy Antiques, who is the handsome gentleman posing with me) and that’s Carey of Cassidy Vintage in the other picture.

I still found time to discover these antique navette rings from MaryAnntiques!

Aren’t they killer? I love how a navette ring looks on the finger. The effect is so glamorous and elegant.

That’s right – I have another Vegas recap post ready for you!! Today, we’re going to look at some of my favorite glittering sights from the mammoth JCK Las Vegas trade show.

JCK Las Vegas, if you’re not familiar with it, is one of the major trade shows that anchor Jewelry Market Week in Las Vegas. JCK is so vast, it’s almost more like a city of small trade shows than one big one. The show is divided into neighborhoods where exhibitors are organized in various ways, from the up and coming designers in the Rising Stars to the ultra glam of the Luxury section and a hundred more distinctions. I could have spent a whole week there and not seen everything.

That said: I did see quite a few things at JCK, and so many of them are worth sharing with you! Let’s dive in.

I was so excited to see what new treasures Omi Prive was showing at JCK Las Vegas that I showed up to my 4 pm appointment with them at 10 am. Because the Omi Prive team is wonderful, they rolled with it and handed over the goods even though I was a full 6 hours early.

Just look at these rings! You would have shown up 6 hours early, too.

Here’s a closer look at this glorious Omi Prive opal behemoth. Goodness gracious. I know I had it on my hand, but it still blows me away, even in photos.

It won’t shock you to learn that this beauty is an award-winner.

Rahaminov Diamonds was another JCK Las Vegas stop I was very excited to make. I’d been pining for these earrings, ever since I saw them on my friend Ben’s Instagram months earlier. I loved them so much I’d already featured them in Instore Magazine, even before seeing them in person.

What’s the big deal with these? They use carre cut diamonds, an unusual cut that you don’t see much in pieces like this. They don’t sparkle as aggressively as another cut of this size would, but I think their sharp angles and clean facets are irresistible, especially in these sleek bezel settings. I’m wearing two separate pairs here, one dangling trio of carre cuts and one three carat stud. I was expecting to love the dangles more, but I think those giant studs have my heart (video here).

The Rahaminov Diamonds necklace I have on is worth mentioning, too! What a stunner.

In addition to their exceptional stones, Rahaminov Diamonds is known for their flower designs. It’s not hard to understand why, while looking at this beauty.

Please consider that shower of light to be concrete evidence of these diamonds’ superlative quality. See it in action here.

From incomparable diamond classics to the cutting edge of design, we’re going to look next at one of my favorites from the Rising Stars section of JCK Las Vegas, which is dedicated to up and coming brands.

A lot of designers are doing interesting work, but little h is one whose ideas I would describe as truly innovative. She creates “pearl geodes” by cutting open pearls in various ways and setting their insides with diamonds, gems, or even smaller pearls. It creates an otherworldy effect that’s just not like anything else out there.

I don’t care much about pearls in a general way: they just don’t get me excited. But I’d wear any piece of little h’s, anytime, anywhere. Just look at this bonanza of color and texture. You know you love it.

Did you know that Luxury Prive was the very first jewelry trade show to invite me to attend as press? It was way back in 2013, and if you want a proof that my photography has improved with time, that’s a great link to click on (yikes). I’ll never forget the trip home from NYC after that day: I sat on the bus in shock, thinking about all the pieces I’d gotten to handle that day and thinking I need to do this all the time. How do I do this all the time?

Good news, past me: we’ve done it!

This was a really fun year for Luxury Prive, because I felt like the show really came outside its box a bit in terms of the talent that was on display. The usual gorgeous giants (Oscar Heyman, Simon G, Setare) were there, along with a double row at the end of the ballroom of smaller, newer brands like Ron Hami, Goldhenn, Aero Diamonds, and Judi Powers. A beautifully curated and interesting mix.

My first stop was Judi Powers because – if you haven’t gotten this impression already – I adore both Judi and her designs. Judi, her lovely assistant Kayla, and her booth neighbor Meaghan (of Goldhenn – more on her in a minute!) were my home base for Luxury Prive, stashing my purse, reassuring me that my lipstick was in place, and helping me find coffee whenever I was desperate for fuel. Thanks again, ladies!

This tourmaline magnificence is a just-finished creation of Judi’s and I freaked out totally when I saw it. I love the textures and the colors of this piece, and the natural feel of the tourmaline slabs. Bonus: they’re strung on pink!

Please note that the central silver element is actually even cooler than it looks above, because in the picture I took, the necklace is backwards. That said: can you believe how gorgeous this is from the back?? See the front here.

This is another brand new Judi Powers piece – and another personal fave of mine. How spectacular is that stone? It’s a dendritic agate, which means those lacey, tree-like lines you’re admiring in the stone are completely natural.

I love how Judi has set the agate in rich, recycled yellow gold, adorned on the bail with three colored diamonds. Such a simple, soulful design.

I associate Goldhenn with two main categories: gorgeously geometric diamond pieces, and her luscious, organic water buffalo horn bracelets.

The above is my very favorite of her horn bracelets: I love this cuff’s clean lines, dramatic color juxtaposition, and three perfect bezel set diamonds. The majority of the bracelets are smaller than this, more bangle than cuff, but this is the one you get to see because it is the one I’m obsessed with. (Please disregard how strangely enormous my palm looks in the photo above.)

And here are some of the diamonds!! I loved a lot of Goldhenn’s pieces, but I had the most fun stacking these fantastic kite-shaped rings.

Can you tell how many rings I’m wearing on my pointer finger in this picture? (Spoiler: it’s 5.)

If you’ve been keeping track, then you know that there’s one final piece of my Vegas jewelry adventure that I haven’t shared with you yet. Today, I’m delighted to share with you my favorite finds from JCK Las Vegas.

The JCK Las Vegas show is the largest of the Vegas jewelry week shows. It’s titillatingly enormous. If I had an extra week to spend just there I still don’t think I could have seen everything.

Since I had a limited amount of time, I prioritized two things: visiting designers I loved from afar but hadn’t met in person yet, and checking out the JCK Las Vegas Rising Stars section, because I love seeing and supporting new talent.

Ayva jewelry was very high on my list of brands I love but haven’t seen in person yet, and I’m happy to tell you that both designer Priyanka and her lovely designs were a delight.

The two rings above are from her newest, floral-inspired collection, and I could not get enough of them. Especially the pink and blue one – a color scheme I have a particular weakness for.

Speaking of Ayva’s irresistible color schemes – please have a gander at this necklace. Its deceptively simple silhouette holds a combination of purple amethyst, green tourmaline, and diamonds in yellow gold, the different gem shapes combined in an interesting way. A beautiful piece that couldn’t possibly be easier to wear.

Priyanka also adorned Ayva jewelry’s booth at JCK Las Vegas with a handmade floral backdrop, which I thought was such a creative, wonderful touch indicative of the brand’s overall energy and innovative spirit. Thanks for letting me touch all of your jewelry, Priyanka!

You know I’m a Doryn Wallach fan – I’ve featured her work several times – but JCK Las Vegas was the first time I actually saw any of Doryn’s work in person. The gorgeous rings above, which just won a JCK Editor’s Choice Award, are some of her newest.

I promised to there would be more JCK LUXURY Privé photos, and here they are! Don’t forget to go back and catch Part 1 if you missed it (or if you just want to revisit those beauties).

I thought I would dive right in and show you the crown. This is the incredible piece that I was wearing in my 2 year blog birthday post. (There were zero photos that showed both me and the crown looking our best, but I really wanted you to see it on a person.)

This gorgeous tiara is the work of Greek designer Thyreos Vassiliki. It’s made of 18k gold and diamonds. It’s surprisingly light and comfortable. Everyone at the JCK Blogger’s Preview had a ball trying it on.

Here’s a cuff bracelet by the same designer. I love the presence it has with its bold, sculptural feel and the interesting texture on the gold.

I think these diamond ear climbers by Rina Limor are just about perfect. They look like crystallized soap bubbles, tiny and light and wonderful. I would wear them with everything.

I could not get enough of the colors in this line of amazonite jewelry with tsavorite garnet and diamond accents from Doves by Doron Paloma. Don’t you want to wear this pendant on an island?

I always jump at the chance to see Omi Privé’s jewels in person, and these two beautiful blues were no disappointment. The left is a tanzanite, right is a sapphire.

Here’s a better look at the tanzanite.

A fabulous yellow gold and emerald pendant by Omi Privé. Such a dark, bewitching beauty to this piece.

A super-cool, vaguely 1970’s sautoir by The Mazza Company: this beauty is made from black onyx, red coral, and 14k gold.

A hand full of rings by Simon G and Sethi Couture! You know I can’t resist an opportunity to stack.

Neha Dani had several extremely cool pairs of earrings on display; these were my favorites. Aren’t they stunning? Like gilded sea coral.

Speaking of standout earrings: check out these, by the fabulous Sethi Couture. The colors, the lines! That’s blue sapphires, white diamonds, and tsavorite garnets making up that beautiful design.

Here’s a pretty opal and diamond ring by Spark Creations. How great is that side detail with the gold frond reaching out over the surface of the opal? That’s my favorite part.

These two Art Deco-inspired cocktail rings are by ZIVA jewels. Aren’t they delicious?

Up close and personal with that square ZIVA ring.

I couldn’t get enough of this cabochon gemstone and diamond bracelet by Vivaan. You know how I feel about colorful jewelry.

I visited the Mastoloni Pearls booth, where I had the great privilege of playing with this river of natural pearls.

I also had the chance to check out Mastoloni Pearls’ ear climbers, which I’d heard were fantastic. And they are: so perfectly proportioned and so comfortable to wear.

One last peek at that Omi Privé tanzanite. Sigh.

As before, I want to thank JCK Events, Communique LA, and all of the vendors who took the time to show me their beautiful wares. I had a truly glorious experience.